So I finally invested in a cheap printer, and today has been all about experimenting with shrink plastic and a printer. It’s been interesting to say the least. I’ve now got a pretty good idea of what I can do, and what I can’t do.

First off, anyone who claims that you HAVE to have the special shrink made for inkjet is full of shit. I used clear (and in one case a small piece of translucent) from Lucky Squirrel , and my disclaimer is that even Lucky Squirrel says not to put their stuff through a printer.

Bullocks I say.

But there are some rules.

First thing I learned, you can’t just print right on the shrink without sanding. It just don’t work Jeeves. You have to sand it. Then rinse it and let it dry. I also learned, if you’re going to color it, sand both sides. If it’s a color print, you obviously don’t need to worry about it. But I do a lot of black and white stuff that I then color on the back (I believe this process is called “color back” oddly enough) and then I bake as normal. But its far easier to sand both sides before printing if you plan on doing this. Trust me, sanding it on the back after printing is a nightmare.

It’s wet. Don’t touch it if you can help it. Otherwise yes, it smears. And boy, does it smear. Luckily, baking sets the ink and sealing your piece will help. I use a resin based sealer, but yes, clear nail polish will work. But use caution, you can smear a piece. So sand deeply so the ink really has a place to grab. And really rinse so that you don’t gum up your printer.

And yes, plan on getting inky fingers. I’m still looking like a Gutenberg apprentice.